NEW YORK’S DUMBEST
Cop charged with using arrested woman’s credit card to treat pals
An NYPD cop is facing criminal charges for sharing a suspect’s credit card number with bumbling buddies who tried but failed to use the digits on a Starbucks run, police and prosecutors said Wednesday.
“Lunch on me guys!” Officer Andy Urrutia allegedly boasted in a text message chain with his friends after sharing an arrested woman’s credit card number, expiration date and security code on March 23.
Urrutia, 23, also sent photos of the credit card, which was among the woman’s seized belongings while she was being held at the 52nd Precinct stationhouse in the Bronx.
“Try it,” the cop wrote. “You are all welcome.”
Urrutia’s largesse at the unsuspecting woman’s expense drew rave reviews from his friends, particularly one buddy named “Lemon” who joked, “Probably got overdraft fees cause they broke.”
Another friend wrote, “About to run it up at Starbucks.”
But the card number was declined by a Starbucks barista. Urrutia’s friends tried to run the card four times before giving up, according to court records.
When the woman who was arrested learned her card was used and declined while it was sitting in an NYPD stationhouse, she reported the fraud to authorities.
It didn’t take the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau long to trace the crime to Urrutia, who was taken into custody early Tuesday after finishing a midnight shift.
“When he got off, they were waiting for him in the upper lot” of the 52nd Precinct stationhouse, an NYPD source said. “He was taking pictures of victims’ and perps’ IDs and credit cards and sending them to friends who made charges.”
Cops and prosecutors were investigating if Urrutia had shared any other suspects’ credit card numbers with his friends, sources said.
Investigators charged Urrutia with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, petty larceny, official misconduct, attempted identity theft and unlawful possession of personal identification.
He was suspended from the force following his arrest.
A Bronx Criminal Court judge ordered him released without bail. He’s due back in court Feb. 6.
The woman who owned the card had been arrested three days before Urrutia sent the digits to his friends, prosecutors note.
Urrutia, who has only been with the NYPD for a year, was working when the woman was arrested, but it wasn’t immediately disclosed if he handled her arrest.
A call to his attorney was not returned Wednesday.